Linley originally trained as a warrior under his "uncle" Hillman. He reached the 4th rank through physical training alone but was unable to utilize any normal battle Qi because of his dragonblood lineage. Upon finally awakening his Dragonform by consuming the blood of a dragon he was able to utilize his clan's Dragonblood Qi and continued to train until finally becoming a Saint level warrior in his human form.

Upon finding out that his levels of dragonblood were too low to naturally become a Dragonblood warrior Linley pinned his hopes on becoming a magus. Initially Doehring Cowart was able to determine that Linley had exceptional earth essence affinity and reasonable spiritual essence and began training him.

Subsequently Linley went to the Magus selection exam and found he also had exceptional wind essence affinity as well as average fire essence affinity. His spiritual essence was also now considered to be high (about 18 times the average for his age) thanks to the training he had undertaken. He was recruited to go to the Ernst institute (the most prestigious institute for Magi on the Yulan continent).

Linley's progress as a Magus increased rapidly when Doehring taught him the straight chisel school of sculpting as a way to immerse himself in nature. This caused his spiritual essence to rise far more rapidly than you would expect (the toughest part of progressing as a magus). He took another huge leap forward on sculpting his masterpiece "Awakening From the Dream ". Linley would finally reach the point of a Saint grand magus.

The soul could be considered a weak point of all beings, especially gods because it's destruction means death whereas a physical form can be repaired. Linley's soul is protected by the coiling dragon ring (a Sovereign level soul protecting divine artifact ) and his clan's natural soul defense. Linley, however, was able to directly strengthen his soul through the soul refining properties of the coiling dragon ring. This allowed him to use other people's souls to strengthen his own and bring it to the limits of whichever godly rank he was currently at.

After getting hit by Magnus's supreme attack during the planar war, Linley's soul became dangerously close to dying. However, through the nourishment of the soulstone, Linley not only managed to survive but also become the first ever 4-way soul mutate . This gave him a Will that was stronger than Paragons but still far weaker than Sovereigns and also gave him the ability to fuse his four divine powers into a new type of divine power. After becoming a Sovereign, it allowed him to fuse the four types of sovereign power he had into a new previously unseen Gray energy capable of melting divine sparks.

Each perfect fusion of energy resulted in his body being strengthened far beyond the normal levels of HighGod or Sovereign levels.

However, the fusion requires that the various types of energies must be on the same level to fuse properly. e.g Linley's Highgod divine power from his Earth, Water and Wind clones initially could not fuse properly with his God-level divine power until his Fire clone broke through to the Highgod level. The initial fusion made the new energy unstable and weaker than just fusing the three Highgod divine powers.

Linley became a god through his own efforts rather than fusing with a divine spark. This allowed him to fuse his divinity into different divine clones (one for each of earth, wind, water and fire) and pursue training in all 4 of those elements. His ranks in each increase during his time in the higher planes.

It is an ability to transform into a Dragonblood warrior. It is a trait of his clan, one of the four divine beast clans and the most balanced of the four supreme warriors clans transformation that greatly improves all attributes.

He can fully Dragonform or just parts of his body.

The form changes throughout the series. Regardless of the version it is always noted that Linley has spikes and horns which are not present on regular Dragonblood warriors. This is because his initial transformation is caused by a Armored Razorback Wyrm and he absorbed some of it's properties (spikes and exceptional defense). In contrast regular Dragonblood warriors only develop an azure Dragonscale covering.

The first transformation is impure (he drank the blood of a Armored Razorback Wyrm).

The second transformation is when he absorbs the Azure Dragon Sovereign's refined blood essence which was stored within the Azure Dragon ring (coiling dragon ring)

The third transformation is of an azure-gold dragon (he absorbed a 'water Sovereign might' from the coiling dragon ring). This technique was established by the Azure Dragon Sovereign and for every drop of its blood essence absorbed the individual can absorb an additional water Sovereign's might.

The fourth transformation is after he becomes a soul mutate as well as a Highgod in Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. The 4-way fused divine power causes his body to undergo another change, further strengthening it and changing his Dragonform.

His dragon scales turn inky green while the spikes on his head, elbows, knees, and spine turn black. There's also a very slight layer of muscle covering the spikes that can only be seen up close. His nails in Dragon Form which used to be long shrink to be almost normal as well. (reference?) (Not sure if you get notified about comments down below so I'll add it here just so you know. Book 20 chapter 21. All the edits I made do come from the series. I listed the instances in the comments sections.)

Wind Divine Clone-First became a demigod of wind by practicing in the slow and fast profound mysteries. Linley fuse while training in the Profound Truths of Velocity.

He then developed the profound mysteries of sound and music. Rather than accepting the wind Demigod divine spark into his body, Linley chose to split his soul retaining a wind divine clone and his original body. His original body can merge with the divine wind clone but only the original can Dragonform.

Earth Divine Clone-His earth divine clone was formed when he achieved mastery in the profound mysteries of the throbbing pulse of the world. Rather than accepting the earth Demigod divine spark into his body, Linley chose to split his soul retaining an earth divine clone and his original body again. He further trained in the profound mysteries of essence of earth. He was capable of inflicting both soul and material attacks through his voidwave sword attacks. His strongest defense also arose from the Pulseguard Armour which could be used to protect both soul and body.

Fire Divine Clone-Within the infernal realm Linley trained in the essence of fire profound mystery to develop a fire divine clone. This clone is the slowest in training, and lowest in strength of Linley's bodies. And again, rather than accepting the fire Demigod divine spark into his body, Linley chose to split his soul retaining a fire divine clone and his original body.

Water Divine Clone-Upon receiving the ancestral baptism in the Redding clan Linley developed an exceptional affinity to water and developed a water type divine clone. As always for Linley, rather than accepting the water Demigod divine spark into his body, Linley chose to split his soul retaining a water divine clone and his original body again.

Earth Divine Clone-Linley reaches the level of god in his divine earth clone after training in Royalwing city for several years. At this point he has fused the Essence of Earth mystery and the Throbbing Pulse of the World mystery. As a god he has an enhanced godrealm relative to demigods and a more robust soul. As a god he masters the profound truth of Worldwalking. When captured by Reisgem, he fuses Gravitational Force with the already fused Throbbing Pulse of the World and Essence of the Earth, which only takes him 500 years. At the time of entering the Redding clan he is looking to master the profound mystery of strength and has yet to achieve any insights into the profound mystery of vitality.

His most powerful abilities, The Blackstone Prison and Blackstone Space, are actually the unique abilities of the Redbud continent Sovereign, which is a Sovereign of Destruction. The only ones capable of using these techniques are Linley, the Sovereign, and his only son (Reisgem).

Later when in the Redding Clan, he fuses Strength with Throbbing Pulse of the World to create his attack Firmament Splitter.

Wind Divine Clone-He reaches the level of god in his divine wind clone after the sand castle incident and masters the Profound Truths of Velocity (a combination of the fast and slow aspects) as well as the profound mysteries of sound (a combination of music and soundwaves). He is also capable of using doppleganger though it has yet to be fused.

Fire Divine Clone-He reaches the god level in his divine fire clone after training within the Redding Clan for several years.

Earth Divine Clone
Linley reaches the level of High-god after gaining a sudden insight, when watching the fight of the Azure Dragon Clan Grand Elder against Barbary. A Bloodrigde Sovereign's manifestation was present during the descent of Natural Laws. During the Planar Wars, he fuses Strength, Gravitational Space, Essence of the Earth, and Throbbing Pulse of the World along with having complete control of the Blackstone Space, which he uses 108 rays to lock his opponent in place, to create his upgraded attack Microcosm.

Water Divine Clone
He reaches the level of High-god after witnessing a battle occuring at an Abyssal Inn, in the Netherworld.

Wind Divine Clone
He reaches the level of High-god while training inside of Planar Battlefield in the Planar Wars.

Fire Divine Clone
Linley becomes a fire Highgod while training within his Redding Clan estate in the Skyrite mountains after the Planar Wars. It was the slowest to train but after becoming a Soul Mutate, which increased his training speed in the laws of fire.

Bebe - in the beginning, Bebe was thought to be one of the two common rat type divine beasts, eventually it is revealed that he is the second God Eater rat in existence. Bebe's trademark characteristics are his speed and durability. Bebe trains in the laws of Darkness and has obtained insights thanks to the soul strips given to him by his grandfather Beirut. Bebe is proficient in the profound mysteries of evil, essence of darkness, shadowshape doppleganger, and the profound mystery of devour. Due to his impatient attitude and lack of interest in training Bebe's progression is slow despite the help from his grandfather.

Haeru - is a wind and darkness style panther beast who received wind style divine sparks to achieve godhood. The sparks were given by Linely and Haeru remains in the Yulan Plane with the Baruch Clan.

Bladeless Heavy Sword (Adamantine Heavy Sword) (process has started, cultivation is currently unknown). Used mostly for Earth style attacks. 3,600 pound sword made of Adamantite. Due to Adamantite being hard to process for mortals, Bladeless doesn't have a cutting edge, instead having a tapered edge. Instead of cutting, it is more accurate to say that the sword cleaves and smashes. Forged by Vincente Hyde descendant Violetflame Warriors, when the forged process was almost done the blade struck by lightning from the sky and made a faint azure-light at the edge of its blade.

Bloodviolet (Violet Blood Fiend Sword), this sword possesses a baleful aura born from its many kills and produces a hum which affects the soul when infused with divine energy. High-god artifact (becomes a Sovereign Artifact near the end of the book). Used mostly for Wind style attacks. Its blade can bend, to increase its attack range and variety. From Mortal and Saint levels, the sword's only good points are its extreme cutting power, flexibility, and "baleful aura" (sword takes over his body, and sends him on a killing spree until the sword has drunk enough blood). At Deity level and above, the sword's cutting power increases, the aura is able to be used.

Coiling Dragon Ring (Also called Azure Dragon Ring) A Damaged Soul Protecting Sovereign Artifact, that protects the soul from soul attacks. This ring can store certain materials, and refine other materials (souls and amethyst being two). Amethysts and souls can be refined (almost instantly) and stored in the ring for the user to use at their will.

Interspatial Ring: Useful for storing large/bulky/numerous items in, allowing the holder to travel largely unencumbered. There are different kinds of rings, which hold different capacities. These rings aren't very numerous in the material planes, but are almost worthless in the higher planes due to them being readily available. Linley usually stores large amounts of food, wine, clothes, and his weapons in his ring. He also stores his wealth too. With a wave of the hand, Linley can make the objects stored in the ring appear and disappear.

Mirage: A godspark sword made by Beirut. Beirut promised that he will forge a godspark weapon for him when he will break through the HighGod level. This weapon has been forged in 100 years with Beirut only eating Fire-Water-Earth-Wind HighGod Divine Sparks, in order to suit Linley. This is the best Weapon Beirut has ever done. It has a blade with a length similar to the Bloodviolet sword. It is extremely sharp : even his dragonformed body is cut when touching the blade (his body is as tough as a HighGod Divine Artifact). When moving at high speed, the sword seems to disappear. Even in his human form, when Linley uses the sword, it creates ripples at the tip of the sword (the space in the Higher Planes is extremely stable : only extremely strong combatants can create these ripples). Godspark weapons are second to Sovereign Artifacts, and can become them. Mirage eventually becomes a Sovereign Artifact.

Overgod Sword: Upon finishing the Overgod mission, she bestowed on Linley the Overgod Sword. It was a nearly 1.5 meter long green longsword. The guard of the sword was shaped like a flower petal, and the sword’s handle had runed etchings in the shape of coiling tendrils that perfectly matched the location where one would grip it. As for the blade of the sword, it was covered with diagrams of all sorts of plants and flowers. Both edges of the sword were extremely sharp.